Fred, a recently widowed Spaniard in his 70s who has led a quiet life, retires to an apartment in Madrid. Elsa, a similarly aged but more colorful Argentinian and a chronic liar, is his neighbor. Fred has no significant health problems but is a hypochondriac. Elsa is seriously ill and undergoing dialysis but hides it from Fred. The two fall in love. Elsa throws Fred into situations the widower would have disapproved of before he met her, making him "live life and not death". Once Fred learns Elsa will probably die, he pays all their expenses for a trip to Rome to fulfill Elsa's lifelong wish of reenacting Federico Fellini's famous scene starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg under the Fontana di Trevi in La Dolce Vita.
After the trip to Rome, the movie ends with Fred visiting Elsa's grave in Madrid with his grandson. Fred looks at the birthdate on her tombstone and realizes she lied about how old she was and jokingly and affectionately calls her "embustera" (Spanish for "liar").
